About this campaign

The Australian Dental Association (ADA) has a vision of optimal oral health for all Australians. Unfortunately, one third of Australians report they cannot access adequate dental care due to excessive waiting times in the public system, financial difficulties, their proximity to care, and other disadvantages.

Currently many Australians have difficulty accessing the dental care they urgently need, and disadvantaged Australians are experiencing unacceptable deterioration of oral health. The ADA has identified groups considered to be most in need as the financially disadvantaged, people living in rural and remote communities, older persons, people with special needs, and Aboriginal/Torres Strait Islander peoples.

As a result, the ADA has recognised the barriers in achieving our vision and has long advocated the need for targeted funding for dental care, in 2009 introducing DentalAccess – a model for providing equity in timely access to dental care for Australians, by targeting vulnerable and underserviced populations.

DentalAccess addresses:

• sustainability of the public dental system and the need for collaboration with the private sector to adequately provide dental services;
• the needs of those Australians who have difficulty accessing appropriate dental care;
• distribution and allocation of funding directed toward preventive and restorative dental care, as opposed to thinly distribution across an entire population; and
• the need for additional funding and direction for oral health promotion

The ADA is calling for commitment from the Commonwealth, and state and territory governments to prioritise oral health, and implement a scheme in accordance with DentalAccess to ensure timely and equitable access of dental care for all Australians.

You can view the ADA’s DentalAccess proposal, a one page summary, and the ADA’s 2012-2013 Pre-Budget Submission in the download section on the right to find out more.